As a Senior Economist at the Development Research Group of the World Bank, I specialize in development economics, political economy, and labor economics. My research focuses on advancing evidence-based policies that drive meaningful change in three critical areas: (1) the nexus between migration and development, including the policies shaping outcomes for migrants and their host communities, (2) the interplay between crime, conflict, and development, and (3) policies to reduce informal economic activities in developing countries.

Beyond my role at the World Bank, I am a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley, a Research Fellow at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, and a Faculty Affiliate at both the Center for Economic and Social Research and the Schaeffer Center at the University of Southern California. I am also a mentor with the Association for Mentoring and Inclusion in Economics, collaborate with the Households in Conflict Network, and am a Founding Member of the Humans LACEA Network. Additionally, I contribute as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Development Economics. 

My current projects span Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa, including work on randomized control trials (RCTs) in Jordan, Ethiopia, and Colombia. I co-founded several key research initiatives, such as the VenRePs Study of Venezuelan forced migrants in Colombia, the VenRePs-Kids study of children, and the Syrian Refugee Life Study in Jordan. Additionally, I contributed to the World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies.